BART Board approves labor contract, employees to vote next

The Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) Board of Directors voted eight to one to approve the 2013-2017 Collective Bargaining Agreements reached with BART's two largest unions, ATU, Local 1555 and SEIU, Local 1021, at a special meeting on January 2, 2014.

The contract voted on includes revisions recently negotiated to resolve a disputed family leave provision which was mistakenly included in the original tentative agreements reached on October 21, 2013. BART's general manager will execute the contract upon ratification by union employees who will vote in the coming weeks.

On December 21, 2013, BART and its two largest unions resolved the remaining contract difference with solutions that are administrative in nature and/or will be covered within BART's existing budget.

"We thank the union leaders for all their hard work to resolve the family leave dispute and to move this agreement forward," said BART President Joel Keller. "The Bay Area has been put through far too much and we owe it to our riders and the public to make the needed reforms to our contract negotiations process so mistakes are avoided in the future. I will appoint a new board committee to investigate the policies and practices of labor negotiations and will make recommendations to the board and the general nanager on how we can improve the process."